The pace at which tech trends are changing these days, I might be better off starting this piece with a disclaimer that everything could change in a couple of months and this story might not have much shelf life. But till then it is pretty much clear that high-end smartphones, especially in the Android variety, have never had it so bad. This change in fortunes has been triggered by a new set of smartphones that offer the consumers almost everything they need at price points that don?t force you to pull out the credit card or look for an EMI.

We have Motorola to thanks for starting the trend by launching its Moto G smartphones at a very affordable R13,000. Soon, the entire bunch of Indian manufacturers were trying to give more at this price point. A host of Chinese companies like Gionee, Lenovo and recently Xiaomi lined up phones with better processors, cameras and battery but without pushing beyond the psychological R15,000 price barrier. Then Taiwanese PC-maker Asus changed the game on its head by offering the 5-inch version of its ZenFone 5 for just R9,990.

It is not that Android phones were not available at these price points before. There was a virtual flood of affordable smartphones in India, powered by MediaTek processors. But those phones were not really the best devices around, not even in their price range. This is what has changed with the latest Android phones ? they are good enough to take on some models that cost double the price. The new phones have finally helped Android shrug off the grouse that its cheaper offerings were not really worth the effort.

Interestingly, this time the low price points are not being achieved by putting in the more affordable MediaTek processor. Almost all the new phones have either Qualcomm or Intel processors, which were traditionally believed to be more expensive and the reason why phones powered by them were costlier. It is as if the big chipmakers have learnt from Mediatek the need to be dominant in the entry and mid-range devices which contribute the actual volumes in the smartphone market.

Another significant trend here is that most of these mid-segment phones?priced between R10,000 and R15,000?have at least a 5-inch screen and are classified as phablets. Across price points this is the fastest growing segment among smartphones. It seems people are seeing the value in having a larger screen in the pocket instead of carrying a tablet in the bag. This change in mindset has been strong enough to be counted as the single largest reason for the fall in growth of the tablet segment.

While globally the tablet segment grew 11% year-on-year in the second quarter of 2014 according to research firm IDC, Cyber Media Research?s first quarter figures for India had shown a 17.5% decline.

It is not a mere coincidence that the so-called phablets?smartphones with screen sizes between 5 and 6.9 inches?were first made popular by Indian smartphone manufacturers powered by cheaper MediaTek processors. In India, this was feeding a segment which wanted both a smartphone and a tablet, but could not afford both. Soon, other markets figured out that it made sense to buy phablets than opt for awkward tablets with voice calling. With people realising the practicality of this screen size, even the tablets have been shrinking into the 7 to 8 inch segment, with anything larger increasingly becoming a niche segment.

Overall, the entire range of devices with screen sizes between 5 and 8 inches can now be catergorised as the ?super-mid? thanks to their price as well as size. This is where you will see most new devices coming in the near future, and this might lead to price points falling even further with the offerings improving drastically. While this chunk will garner most of the volumes within smartphones and tablets, you might see the top-end become even more expensive as they add features like 2K and 4K screens, better cameras and more powerful processors. But that could end up making the flagship phone a luxury device and prompt a lot of companies to even have a budget flagship.

nandagopal.rajan@expressindia.com